Door latch



c. s. COMEY ET AL ,638,771

May 19, 1953 DOOR LATCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 14, 1949 INVENTOR.

CHARZA'ZS (OM57 May 19, 1953 c. s. COMEY ET AL DOOR LATCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 14, 1949 INVENTOR. 0/4944: 5. can 1:) y MHZ/1R0 A $417 r ATI'OP/Vffd Patented May 19, 1953 DOOR LATCH Charles S. Comey and Millard F. Saxton, Flint, Mich, assignors to The Engineered Products Company, Flint, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application December 14, 1949, Serial No. 132,935

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a rim latch for a door and particularly to a latch of the type commonly used for screen doors and similar applications.

Screen door latches as commonly constructed are usually provided with a dead bolt arrangement which is mounted on the inner trim plate for the latch and operable from the inner side of the door but not from the outer side of the door. With latches of this type, it is impossible to leave the premises with the door to the premises open and with the screen door locked from the outer side of the door. The provision of a latch which enables a screen door to be locked and unlocked from the outside as well as the inside is for obvious reasons very desirable.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a rim type latch for a door which is of simple construction and therefore economical to manufacture and which is provided with a dead bolt arrangement which can be operated manually from the inner side of the door and by means of a key from the outer side of the door.

More specifically, the invention contemplates a latch which includes inner and outer trim plates adapted to be mounted on opposite sides of a door, one of the trim plates, preferably the inner, forming a housing for a latch bolt assembly and carrying a dead bolt arrangement. The other trim plate is provided with a member which telescopically engages a spindle on the inner trim plate for operating the dead bolt by means of a key from the outer side of the door. lhe telescoping members for the inner and outer trim plates are of substantial length and enable the latch to be mounted on di-fierent doors which vary considerably in thickness.

Other objects and improvements in the nature of the simplicity of construction and the provision of a dead bolt assembly integral with one of the trim plates will become apparent from the following description and drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the latch of this invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the latch assembly from the inner trim plate side thereof.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the latch assembly from the outer trim plate side thereof.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the striker plate.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the inside of the inner trim plate.

Figure 6 is a sectional View taken along lines 2 66 in Figure l with the latch mounted on a door and with the latch bolt assembly removed.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the dead bolt mechanism.

Figure 8 shows a key which may be utilized for operating the dead bolt from the outside of a door.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the latch bolt mechanism.

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken along lines lil-Ili in Figure 5.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown an inside trim plate and latch assembly housing It having a recess l2 which is adapted to receive a latch bolt assembly hl. The housing if! has mounted thereon a stub spindle it of noncircular shape which carries the usual handle It at its outer end.

The outside trim member comprises an escutcheon plate 2d having a spindle 22 of noncircular form rotatably secured thereto and carrying a handle 24 at its outer end.

The latch assembly I4 is identical with the latch assembly shown in co-pending application 697,865 filed September 19, 1946, now Patent No. 2,554,438, dated May 22, 1951, and comprises a frame 26 which seats freely within recess l2 of housing Ill. Frame 26 rotatably supports a cam member 28 having a cam surface 30 which is engaged by a follower 32 formed integrally with a latch bolt M pivoted on frame it, as at 36. A light coil spring it acts between latch bolt 34 and frame 26 to bias follower 32 into engagement with the operating surface 39 of cam 28. A heavy coil spring 41] is mounted within cam 28 and serves to center the cam so that latch bolt 34 is normally in the projected position shown in Figures 1, 3, and 9. Cam 28 is also provided with a central socket 41 of non-circular shape extending through the cam which, when the latch bolt assembly M is seated within recess I2, is arranged to receive the ends of spindles l6 and 22. When either handle IE2 or 2 3 is turned, cam 28 is rotated and causes follower 32 to ride up the operating surface 30 of the cam and thereby retract latch bolt 34.

The arrangement thus far described is identical in both construction and operation with that shown in our above-mentioned co-pending application. The particular latch bolt assembly [4 has been described only for the purposes of illustration and it will become apparent that latch bolt assemblies other than that shown may be employed without departing from the present invention.

The feature of the latch which we believe to be an improvement over the latch shown in said co-pending application resides in the provision of a dead bolt locking arrangement which is operable either manually from the inside of the door or by means of a key from the outside of the door. This arrangement includes a dead bolt 42 which projects through an opening 43 on the front wall of housing 10. To the rear end of bolt 42 there is riveted a carrier 44. I-Iousing [4 is preferably formed as a sheet metal stamping and is fashioned with a shoulder 45 which is provided with an elongated slot 48. A long knob 50 is slidably arranged on the outer face of shoulder 46 overlying carrier 44. Knob 50 is connected with carrier 44 by a pin 52 which extends through slot 48 and is riveted on carrier 44 as at 54. A leaf spring 56 is arranged between the inner face of shoulder 45 and a fiat portion 58 of carrier 44. Spring 56 has projections 60 formed at each end thereof which frictionally engage the inner face of shoulder 46 and thereby provide suffici nt drag on carrier 44 to prevent bolt 42 from becoming jarred from either the projected or retracted position. Spring 56 serves to maintain bolt 42 in the position to which it is positively actuated.

At the upper and lower edges, housing it) is fashioned with flat attaching flanges 52 and 64 which are apertured as at 65 so as to permit the housing to be attached to the face of a door by means of screws. On the inner face of flange 62, there is supported a strap member 68. Strap 68 is preferably secured to flange 62 by peening over the inwardly drawn metal around the screw holes as at iii (Figure 10). Strap 68 is fashioned with an inwardly offset portion 12 between the outer face of which and the inner face of flange 62 there is arranged a yoke member i4. Yoke I4 is pivoted to the housing by a spindle it which eX- tends through the oifset portions 52 of strap 68 and is riveted to yoke 74. The free end of yoke 14 slidably engages a pin 73 fixed to the rear end of carrier 44.

The outer escutcheon plate 2!} is apertured as at 80, the aperture being covered by a rotatable disc 82 which is slotted as at 34 to receive a key 86. On the inner face of plate 255, there is mounted in alignment with slot 34, a cylindrical sleeve 88 which is arranged to telescope over spindle 16 when the inner and outer plates are mounted on opposite sides of a door. Spindle 16 is provided with suitable slots 9b with which corresponding formations 92 on key 5% are adapted to engage so as to rotate spindle '16 when the key is turned.

To mount our latch on a door, such as is illustrated at 9|, it is only necessary to drill two holes in the door as at 94 and 96. Hole 94 is of a size to accommodate spindle 22 and hole at accommodates sleeve 88. These holes are spaced apart corresponding to the spacing of spindle 22 and sleeve 88. Escutcheon plate is secured to the outer face of the door by screws driven through openings 98. Before securing housing 10 to the inner face of the door, latch bolt assembly 14 is seated in recess l2 with the pivoted bolt 34 projecting through the opening 99 formed in the front wall of housing Hi. It will be appreciated, of course, that before latch assembly [4 can be inserted in recess l2, the non-circular spindle is must be arranged to register with the non-circular opening 4! in cam 28. ter latch assembly I4 is seated within recess I2, handle 24 is turned to align spindle 22 with opening 4| on cam 28 and the plates are adjusted so that spindle l6 registers with sleeve 88. When these members are aligned, housing It may be pushed against the face of the door and secured thereto by screws passing through openings 66.

After housing [4 and plate 2B are secured to the door a suitable striker plate I00 is secured to the door frame. Striker Hill has a pair of openings m2 and I04 therein for receiving bolts 34 and 42 respectively.

When it is desired to lock the door from the inside by means of dead bolt 42, knob 50 is merely pushed to the right as viewed in Figure 2 so as to project bolt 42 into openings I04. The turning of handles [8 or 24 will then be ineifective to release the door from the lock position. Bolt 42 can be retracted from the inside by merely sliding knob 50 to the left or from the outside by inserting key 86 in slot 84 and turning in a direction to retract bolt :12. In the arrangement shown, if key 86 is inserted through slot 84 so as to engage the formations 92 with the grooves in spindle l6 and the key is turned in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 5, yoke 74 is rotated counter-clockwise and, by reason of its connection with carrier 44 through pin i8, shifts carrier 45 to the left, thereby retracting bolt 42 from opening H14 in the striker plate lilii.

It will be observed that the arrangement described is adapted for installation on doors of different thicknesses. Ihis is possible because of the telescoping construction of sleeve 88 in spindle i6 and a corresponding telescopic construction between spindle 22 of handle 24 and cam 28. It will also be observed that the dead bolt arrangement is mounted permanently on housing H) by the simple expedient of strap 12 which overlies yoke 74 and pin 52 which positions carrier 44 and knob 5K3 on the inner and outer faces of the housing.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a dead bolt locking arrangement for a rim type door latch which may be constructed economically and which is very reliable in its operation. The dead bolt assembly is furthermore attached permanently to the housing for the latch assembly and therefore makes for easy installation. The telescoping sleeve and spindle arrangement for the dead bolt permits the latch to be mounted on doors of various thicknesses and enables operation of the dead bolt either manually from the inside of the door or by means of a key from the outside of a door.

We claim:

In a rim latch for a door of the type having inner and outer trim plates, the inner of which forms a housing for a latch mechanism, the combination of a dead bolt slidably mounted on the inner face of said inner trim plate, said inner trim plate defining a housing having a front wall, end walls, side walls and a substantially open rear side which is adapted to be closed by the face of the door on which the inner trim plate is adapted to be mounted, said dead bolt being mounted on said inner trim plate for sliding movement from a position lying wholly within said inner trim plate to a position projecting outwardly through an end wall of said trim plate, a knob slidable on the outer face of said inner trim plate, a pin passing through said inner trim plate and connecting said knob with said dead bolt, said pin serving to retain said knob and dead bolt on opposite sides of a wall of said inner trim plate, a yoke member lying wholly within the confines of said inner trim plate and having at one end thereof a sliding pivotal connection with said dead bolt, the opposite end of said yoke having a spindle fixedly secured thereto, said spindle projecting outwardly of said inner trim plate substantially beyond and in a direction normal to the plane of said open rear side, a strap secured to the inner face of the front wall of said inner trim plate, said strap having an opening therein in which said spindle is rotatably supported, said yoke lying between said strap and the inner face of said front wall, said outer trim plate having a sleeve thereon which projects normal to and outwardly beyond the face of said outer trim plate which is adapted to be positioned against the face of a door, said sleeve having a telescopic engage- 20 ment with the free end portion of said spindle, said free end portion of said spindle being rotatable Within said sleeve and being fashioned for interengagement with a key inserted through said sleeve from the outer face of said. outer trim plate.

CHARLES S. COMEY. MILLARD F. SAXT-ON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 404,145 Abbott May 28, 1889 488,750 Buisson 1 Dec. 27, 1892 500,977 Taylor July 4, 1893 558,809 Higley -1 Apr. 21., 1896 619,202 Mirot Feb. 7', 1899 1,050,631 Ehrner et a1. Jan. 14, 1913 1,286,026 Koleszar et a1 Nov. 26, 1918 1,839,265 Roedding Jan. 5, 1932 2,083,796 Schlage June 15, 1937 2,554,438 Bacon et al May 22, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 121,061 Switzerland June 16, 1927 237,421 Great Britain July 30 1925 414,052 Germany May 22?, 1925 

